


Lands Far Away

by Pineprin137



Series: Jensen Takes a Sick Day [15]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends, Dehydration, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Escape, Fear, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Immigration & Emigration, Sea Voyage, Seasickness, Sick Character, Sick Jensen Ackles, Starvation, Travel, World Travel, Worried Jared Padalecki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:15:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29258064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pineprin137/pseuds/Pineprin137
Summary: Jensen and Jared boarded the ship to Valia with high hopes and stars in their eyes.Not even halfway through their voyage, Jensen is really sick, and Jared is doing all he can to keep moving forward.
Relationships: Jensen Ackles & Jared Padalecki
Series: Jensen Takes a Sick Day [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1416841
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Lands Far Away

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanted to write a little Sick Jensen one-shot. Fair warning, this is a bit darker than my normal stuff, but there IS a happy(ish) ending!

Jared was occupying the tiny bathroom when Jensen felt the first warning lurch. Bile slicking his tongue, he flung the threadbare covers off to stumble towards the sliding door. 

While the constant rocking of the boat lulled some people -ahem,  _ Jared _ -, that was not the case for Jensen. 

He took one look at the waves lapping the hull and threw up. 

Closing his eyes, he hung listlessly. He prayed to a God he knew wasn’t there that he could get through one damn day without feeling ill or shaky. 

Jared stepped out of the bathroom and frowned. The small bed was empty, but he'd been sure Jensen was sleeping when he got up to go to the bathroom. 

“Jensen?” He called out to his best friend while glancing around their quarters. 

It didn't take long to scan the room- their cabin was one of the cheapest options. They'd been lucky enough to get one with a mostly functional bathroom, but it also meant the room was smaller than the others. Other than the bed, there was just enough room for a battered cupboard and a filthy bucket Jensen had already had to use several times. 

The only belongings they'd brought were in their rucksacks safely stored in the cupboard. 

Jared turned to the balcony just in time to see a familiar head of messy light brown hair lean further over the rail to vomit. He sighed.  Jensen's seasickness had yet to let up, and Jared knew he had to be exhausted. 

He walked over to lean against the door. “Still feelin’ sick, huh?” he asked, drying his hands on a threadbare towel. 

The sink provided thankfully clean water, and while Jared wished Jensen had a better way to clean up, they'd made do thus far by trading off washing each other's hair in the sink and wiping themselves down with a stained washcloth.

Shoving his bangs out of his face, Jensen gave Jared an unamused look before paling once again. 

Although Jared had been raised down by the port by his merchant father, Jensen had grown up on a small plot of land to the east of the baron's sprawling estate. Jensen's mother had raised him and his three sisters on her own after his father died from pneumonia. 

She'd kept the family afloat with a small yarn shop but had to branch out when the townspeople started to spend more time in the shops owned by the merchants. 

Swallowing her pride, she had reluctantly begun providing a few of her wares to the merchants to sell. 

Jensen had delivered four crates of hand-woven blankets to the merchants every week, and he'd quickly found a friendship with one of the merchant's sons. Spending most of his life tending to their flock of sheep or playing with his sisters, it had been exhilarating to see all the items the merchants brought back from far off places.

Jared had regaled Jensen with stories of the places he and his father had docked while they sat on the wall. He was the one who had shown Jensen there was so much more out there than their tiny town. 

And he was the one beside Jensen when they first heard a rumor about a thriving new port city called Valia. 

Jared had been quietly impressed when they boarded the ship that would hopefully take them to a land of endless opportunity, but Jensen had immediately been wide-eyed and awestruck. 

Unfortunately, his excitement had been cut short. Not even ten minutes after boarding, Jared had been holding him steady as he surrendered his breakfast to the subtle waves. 

Once Jensen had emptied everything but the deepest dregs of his poor overwrought gut, he allowed Jared to help him back into bed. 

Not that that really helped...so far, nothing did. 

Jensen's nausea ebbed and flowed, much like the ship they were going to call home for another three weeks. Though at first, his malady seemed mild and manageable, he'd been bed-ridden for three days, now.

Unable to keep anything in his tumultuous stomach. 

Jared sat down beside Jensen on the bed. 

“Just think, Jen, in a few short weeks, we’ll be in Valia."  He carded his fingers through Jensen’s messy hair, offering his sick friend the only comfort he could. Jensen had sacrificed so much for Jared, it was the least he could do to return the favor.  "We’ll be able to go wherever we want,  _ do  _ whatever we want…”

Since Jared worked in his father's shop and received no wages, Jensen had been the one to fund the majority of their trip. Jared had sold a few of his paintings, chipping in what little he could.

But Jensen had worked day and night in the baron's fields. He'd toiled while slick and hot with fever, wounded from an accident that occurred on the way to town with his mother's crates, covered in hives, and so tired he could barely stand up.

It had all been so they'd be able to get away from the dust and decay that was slowly eating away at their once-beloved town.

Jensen's mother had been against it until Jared suggested they bring Jensen's oldest sister with them. In Valia, Mary Ann could learn to be a proper lady to increase her chances of finding a good husband.

Unable to ignore the chance it would offer her eldest children, Jensen's mother had finally agreed to let them go. 

Mary Ann had talked about nothing but the trip for months.

Her mother had sewed her several new dresses, and she'd even been allowed to accompany Jensen on his trips to town. She'd been so excited to go on the ship, see the sandy beaches of Valia, and meet new people.

But, then, the man Jared had arranged to purchase the tickets from raised his price. They'd only saved enough to purchase two.

Jared had valiantly offered to stay behind, but Jensen had firmly told him that he wasn't going without Jared. 

They had had no choice but to lie to Jensen's mother and sneak away during the middle of the night. Mary Ann had cried for two whole days after Jensen told her about the greedy salesman. It had broken his heart, and he hadn't been able to stomach seeing the same disappointment in his mother's eyes. 

Now, with Jensen so incredibly ill and Mary Ann still in Barston, Jared wondered if they'd made the right decision. If, maybe, it would have been better to stay there, where Jensen was healthy, and they both had some guarantee of employment. 

In Valia, they would have no home, no money, and no family to lean on. It would just be them and their rucksacks. 

"We'll find us some jobs and get a nice little place," Jared said, pushing his worries to the back of his mind. They wouldn't do Jensen any good right now. He stroked Jensen's back and cringed. He'd lost so much weight that Jared could feel the knobs of his spine.

“If I live that long…” Jensen whispered, a tear escaping down his cheek. Jared thumbed it away.

“Hey-- don’t say that. We’re going to figure something out. Okay? I'm going to take care of you.”

Jensen averted his eyes. Jared would never admit it, but Jensen knew he had become a burden. 

Once filled with excitement and vigor, now, he felt exhausted and weak.

His belly rumbled constantly, but he was only able to keep bread and water down for a very brief period of time. His hair had become limp and stringy, the hollows under his eyes so deep he could feel the bones underneath, and t he muscle he’d cultivated while working in the baron's fields had all but vanished. 

Jensen couldn't imagine what his mother would say if she could see him now, the clothes she'd lovingly mended time and again hanging off his thinning frame while he shivered under a threadbare blanket. 

But he knew she would be disappointed-- in him leaving. 

In leaving Mary Ann behind...

In him. 

Jared must have noticed how bad things were getting, but his friend refused to be anything but positive. Jensen was grateful. Jared's unerring hope was the only thing that convinced him to try to eat somedays. 

“Jared…” Jensen frowned, unable to remember what he was going to say.  He was just so tired ...and cold.  He could never seem to get warm anymore. 

“No. Jensen, listen to me.” Jared shuffled down on the bed so he could look directly into Jensen’s half-lidded eyes. The once vibrant grassy green of the meadows just outside town had faded to the dull grey-green of an approaching summer storm. 

“You promised me we would go together. A whole new world-- Remember?" 

He cradled Jensen's face in his hands, unable to suppress a shiver when he felt how icy cold Jensen was. 

"Just you and me, and a new town full of endless possibility. You won't have to work in the fields anymore, Jen. You can become a real baker!” Jared smiled. "Just imagine it, Jen. People comin' from all over just to taste _your_ orange teacakes!" 

When Jensen hadn't been helping his mother with the sheep or entertaining his sisters, he'd been sharpening his culinary skills. He'd mastered the art of the teacake, much to his sisters' enjoyment, and kept a loaf of fresh bread on their shelves at all times. 

After a moment, Jensen sighed and gave Jared a wry smile. “I should learn not to make promises I can’t keep…” Closing his eyes, he smiled sleepily. "You really think they'll come from all over?" 

Jared wrapped his arms around Jensen’s shivering body and pulled the thin blanket over him. “Yeah, I do.” 

"We'll be happy there, Jen," he said softly, resting his chin on Jensen's head. "I promise." 


End file.
